It is the third day of the Tihar festival after kag tihar and kukur tihar, in which day Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth is worshipped. This day is also known as ‘Gai Tihar’. ‘Gai’ means cow in English, symbolizes the Goddess herself. Cow is taken as similar to mother in Hindu religion, as we grow up drinking her milk. In this day, people worship the cow in the morning by feeding her with best grass, and by decorating her with the garlands made from marigolds or chrysanthemum. Disciples try to pass through between the four legs of the cow, and drink her urine as it is believed to purify the human body and soul. In the afternoon, people clean their houses with the mixture of red mud and cow dung, and some footsteps are marked from the main entrance to the pooja kotha, which are believed to drive Goddess Laxmi inside the house. In the evening, all the houses are made bright with the lighting of candles, or the ‘pala’ (these are being replaced by the electrified lights today) in the doors, main entrance, windows and roof.
People try to make their houses as bright as possible, as it is the belief that the Goddess is attracted by light. This is the very day when people start playing ‘deusi’ (which is sung mostly by boys) and ‘bhailo’ (which is sung mostly by girls). Fire crackers are also blown in the evening. Some people also play cards as well.
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kag tihar and kukur tihar I have heard first time about all these. Lakshmi puja is celebrated all over India and other parts of the world mainly on Diwali time though some eastern part celebrates just after Navrathri or Durga Puja. Lakshmi is the God of Wealth for most of the Indians. You have mentioned about the worshiping cow at the time of Lakshmi puja which were unknown to me. Its difficult to do any puja without any prist, also getting a prist is also bit difficult in the big cities. Thats the reason I prefer to buy puja pack from cycle where Mantra chantting and all things are inside and a nice instruction for puja were given.